Tag

Born free, MIA -

Forever, Derty Sesh -

Pussy, Rammstein -

Womanizer, Britney Spears -

When the internet decides to keep "common decency" in mind,
things become confusing

The most recent track from the Sri-Lankan rapper, producer and
fashion designer MIA is called Born Free,
but it's hardly getting free reign on the web.
Shot by Romain Gavras, the son of the celebrated Greek director
Costa Gavras, the video has been removed from
Youtube for having violent content, although it's still visible -
in the original, 9-minute version - on the MIA's official website.

It's not the first time that Youtube exerts censorship with
regards to the content on the site, even when it comes to videos by
established musical artists. Just a month ago the same fate
befell the video by rapper Derty Sesh (aka Nathan King),
which depicted the gruesome murder of a woman. And before that, the
video Pussy from Rammstein, was banned from
the site for reasons of "good taste".

In the case of MIA, the question raises both political and moral
questions: the video's most striking scenes depict a group
of soldiers (apparently Amererican), engaging in a
kind of "ethnic cleansing" against a group of young kids whose only
crime is having pale skin and red hair.

Some get put into prison, others get deported, and still others
are killed by firing squad: provocative and controversial images,
doubtlessly, but the censorship issue makes the debtate even
hotter.

Many people are indignant, citing the constant transmission of
violence from the news media on television, which are apparently
less "offensive". One thing, however, has become clear: despite
MIA's initial claims that the censorship came from her record
label, it's actually youtube that is responsible for the
elimination of the video.

Just like the site eliminated the
Womanizer video by Britney
Spears, for risqué content. But wasBaby One More Time (which was filmed when
the singer was underage, by the way) any less
provocative? The standards of good taste according to
youtube are unclear and inconsistent and we, as viewers, should
begin to wonder where to draw the line.